Housemates
by LabradoriteHeart
Summary: Perona is unsatisfied with her housemate's lack of interest in her, and feels more than a little under appreciated. She aims to get the world's greatest swordsman to loosen up a little and show some compassion towards her; however, Mihawk is a tough person to crack, and the ghost girl is close to giving up.


After successfully helping Zoro by returning him to the rest of the Strawhat crew on Sabaody Archipelago, Perona climbed back into the small rowing boat and headed to Kuraigana Island alone.

It felt weird, knowing that the green-haired idiot was leaving for good. Afterall, she had spent two long years with both him and Hawkeye Mihawk, and had grown used to their presence, but she was also relieved to finally have peace away from the arrogant pirate.

After all, living with one cocky swordsman was more than enough.

She had decided a little while back that she quite liked living in Mihawk's castle after all; it suited her taste and she loved the gothic aesthetic that the area had. She was even beginning to see the place as rather homely, and she couldn't deny it had grown on her during her stay.

So after engaging in much pleading and begging, Mihawk had finally caved and reluctantly let her share his home with him under the condition that she didn't bother him unless it was absolutely necessary.

Well she didn't like that condition one bit, but she agreed to it anyway for the sake of not causing an arguement, and they had left the coversation at that.

Her mind wandered as she finished the long journey back, and as she stepped out of the boat and back onto the island, the ghost girl noticed that the lights were on in the living room of the large building, which could only mean one thing.

The swordsmaster was home.

She perked up and hastily made her way inside, but there was no greeting from him as she shut the front door behind her and made her way down the large hallway. It was by no means an unusual thing, but she had hoped that he would have at least acknowledged that she had returned from such a long journey and that he would have maybe had the decency to ask about it.

She quickly reaslised that that wasn't going to happen, and as she peeked around the door and into the large living room she noticed that Mihawk had his face buried inside a book.

' _Great._ ' She thought to herself, having to stop her eyes from rolling. She already knew that his attention was far from directed at her. In fact, it was like she was invisible to him.

She figured that her presence alone wasn't going to catch his attention, so she leant against the doorframe and let out a dramatic sigh, determined not to be ignored any further.

She wasn't one to give up easily, and was determined to get at least some kind of reaction out of the inhospitable man.

"Is there something you need?" He uttered in response to her interruption, but he did so without looking up.

His eyes were still fixed on the text in front of him and his tone was nonchalant and uninterested.

Perona clenched her jaw at the fact that his attention was still on the goddamn book and not on her, but she decided to go ahead with her plan anyway.

"Well, since you asked…" Perona began, twiddling her thumbs as a small smile appeared on her face. "I was wondering if you want to go for a walk outside or something? Or maybe we could make bake a cake!"

"And why would I want to do that?" Mihawk asked abruptly, raising an eyebrow and flicking to the next page in his book.

Her jaw clentched tighter. _How could someone be so oblivious?_

"Because there's not much else to do here is there?" She replied curtly. She was getting bored of always having to entertain herself in such a large abode, and all she asked for was a little bit of his attention from time to time. She didn't expect much, just for him to take an occasional bit of interest in his housemate's existence.

' _All you care about is your stupid books… You never ask what I want to do..._ ' She thought to herself with a pout, and Mihawk sighed, finally looking up and meeting eyes with her.

"Alright I get your point. I know I don't really have much in the house in ways of entertainment but even so, why do you need me to go with you?" He asked, missing the point entirely.

"I don't _need_ anything from you." She shot back, a feeling of annoyance beginning to grow.

"Look, if you're bored feel free look around for something to do, just please don't make too much mess."

Perona didn't even know how to respond to that, and let out a frustrated growl in response, walking out and shutting, or rather slamming, the door behind her.

" _Stupid, selfish, boring Brute_! No wonder you don't get many visitors!" She shouted, aware that the doors were so thick that they aught to be soundproof. But part of her _wanted_ him to hear it. She'd had enough of him shrugging her off like this. Moria had always humoured her back home, so why couldn't he do the same? Just because he was infamous for being the world's greatest swordsman, it didn't excuse the fact he was being so insensitive.

She let out an exaggerated sigh and made her way into the kitchen, deciding that she'd make a cake, with or without his help.

She climbed up onto the worktop, routing through cupboards in order to find the things she needed.

' _Bowls…_ ' She thought as she opened and searched through the third cupboard. _'Where does that Jerk keep the bowls?!'_

She tossed a wooden spoon, a whisk and a few pieces of baking paper down onto the surface before climbing down to search the draws below. She wasn't going to give up that easily; she was going to prove to him that he was missing out on something fun.

After what felt like ages of searching, she found a large glass bowl and some measuring scales, and placed them down on the worktop alongside the others.

Now she just had to find the ingredients.

As she made her way over to the fridge, she heard the door creak open and she smirked to herself with a feeling of self-satisfaction.

' _heh, I knew it! He couldn't resist joining me after all.'_ She thought complacently as she took out the ingredients that she needed and shut the fridge door.

"So, finally decided you wanted to spend time with me after all, huh?" She called out smugly as she turned around, sugar, flour, eggs and butter all stacked up in her arms as she faced the entrance to the room.

But her smug smile disappeared as she realised that there was no one there.

It had just been the wind that had blown it open, probably due to the fact that she had neglected to shut the massive wooden door properly when she entered.

The same look of annoyance returned to her face as she realised that Mihawk was still sat in the living room, oblivious to her as he continued reading his boring stories.

" _Fine._ If you won't pay attention to me, I won't pay attention to you." She huffed as she placed the ingredients down and went back to work.

"Who needs that man anyway? Not me. He's the one missing out. Now, _Crack the eggs, weigh the flour…_ EEEAHHH!"

A sudden screech erupted from the girl as she dropped the bag of flour and lost her footing, a cloud of white filling the air.

As she fell to the ground she heard footsteps and Mihawk ran in.

"What's wrong?!" He asked in a raised voice, looking around for any sign of danger.

Once he had asserted that the area was indeed safe and there was nothing that he had to fend off, his attention turned the pink haired girl who was now sat slumped over, crying in the corner.

"Perona, what happened?"

"C-C-Cockroach… O-Over there..!" She sobbed hysterically, and the swordsman exhaled heavily in annoyance.

"You'd better be joking." He muttered as he grabbed a cup from the table and gently captured the insect, scooping it up and releasing it out the window. "The way you screamed made me think that there was an intruder, or a fire or something. And Jesus Christ, look at this mess! There's flour everywhere! You really need to-"

He began to lecture her, but he stopped once he saw how upset the girl really was. She was trembling uncontrollably and her breath consisted of short gasps as she tried unsuccessfully to calm herself down.

Mihawk was taken aback by it, and he suddenly understood that it was a genuine fear that she had. It wasn't just her being petty over a bug.

He suddenly felt terrible for yelling at her, and he lowered his voice as he softly spoke.

"That… That really scared you, huh?" He asked, feeling guilty for belittling something that obviously affected her. "Come on…"

He offered her his hand, and once she took it he gently lifted her up off the ground. She was still trembling a little bit, but she was beginning to calm down now that her adrenaline levels were returning to normal.

"I'll clean up now… Sorry…" She began, her obnoxious attitude no longer present as she reached over for a brush. But Mihawk stopped her, taking her other hand and moving her aside.

"No way, you're covered in the stuff. You go get a shower, I'll clean the mess…" He instructed, looking at the girl's now white hair.

"B-but I'm the one who-" She began but Mihawk interrupted her before she could finish.

"Go on, I'll sort this."

Defeated and no longer in the mood to argue with him, she made her way up the stairs, trying her best not to get the fine white powder on everything along the way.

As the ghost girl entered the bathroom, Mihawk began cleaning up, sweeping the flour into a corner and brushing it into the bin. After he had cleared away the dust he began to wipe down the surfaces, and after managing to get it off the walls and even some off the ceiling, the room finally looked like it had previously, before the cockroach had invaded.

Mihawk sighed and took a seat in the kitchen as he listened to the sound of running water above.

He knew he could be too tough on her sometimes, and it must have been hard on her, adjusting to her new home after living with Moria on Thriller bark for so long. He wasn't used to company, and although he was rather solitary in nature, he did have to admit, it was nice having someone else around. He never realised how lonely such a large home could be until Perona and Zoro left for Sabaody. The few days that the two of them were gone had been rather boring.

Just as he got lost in thought, reminiscing over the company he had shared for the last few years, Perona walked in. She was no longer covered in flour, and was now dressed in a pair of light purple pyjamas and black slippers with her hair tied up in two large buns on either side of her head.

He couldn't help but think about how cute she looked, but he tried to shake that thought from his mind as soon as it arrived.

"Are you alright?" He asked, noticing that she appeared to be a lot more composed and calm now, and she nodded in response.

"Yeah, i'm okay... Thanks for letting me use your shower…"

"Don't mention it. I cleaned up while you were gone and made sure there were no more 'roaches around."

"Thanks… Sorry for all the trouble I caused."

Her demeanour had changed entirely, and this was a side to her that Mihawk had definitely never seen before. She seemed so fragile and wounded.

As Perona went back to the cake mix, the swordsman spoke from behind.

"Hey, so… What do you need me to do…?" He asked in an unusually quiet tone and she stopped what she was doing, turning to him in confusion.

"Huh?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

The swordsman got up out of his seat and walked over to where Perona was stood. "I mean, do you want me to grease the baking tray, make the icing, or is there something else you need my help with instead?"

She paused for a minute, in shock. _Was he offering to help her?_

"…Did something happen to you while I was upstairs?" She asked, narrowing her eyebrows at him.

It was obvious that her wittiness had returned to her as she turned to face the swordsman, hands on her hips. "You didn't hit your head, did you? Or maybe you're not even Mihawk at all! Maybe you're just one of the cockroaches in disguise, and you kidnapped him! Well I'm not falling for that, Mr Cockroach. I'm onto you."

"Ha, Ha, very funny." He replied with a smirk. "As a matter of fact, I just felt like helping, that's all. I can't risk another accident happening, there's only so much cleaning up I can take."

Perona smiled, rolling her eyes at his remark as she handed him the bowl. "Well, then you can mix it. My arms are tired so I'll make the icing."

He took the bowl from her and let out a small chuckle as she made her way over to the fridge to get the ingredients that were needed to make the icing.

He began to beat the batter mixture and Perona took her place beside him with a different, slightly smaller bowl.

"See, I told you this would be fun." She smirked as she looked up at the swordsman, and he smiled, looking down at her in response.

"Fun is a loose term…"

"Oi!" She protested, elbowing him in the side. "It's better than sitting in your armchair reading all day."

"Well, I'm not too sure about that but it's definitely a new experience, I'll give you that." Mihawk replied, and she rolled her eyes, deciding not to give him the satisfaction of a response.

Once the two mixtures were complete, Perona poured the contents of the bigger bowl into the baking tray and put it into the oven.

"so that's it then?" He asked, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed against his chest.

"For twenty minutes, yes, then we can put the icing on and decorate it." She replied, putting the utensils into the sink and filling it with hot water.

"Twenty minutes…" He mulled over, and Perona knew what he was thinking.

"You're going to go back to the living room to read, aren't you?" Perona guessed, and Mihawk shrugged.

"Unless you have a better idea." He responded.

Although she wanted to, she knew she couldn't force him to spend time with her if he didn't want to, and she didn't want to push her luck any more than she already had, so she just shook her head in response.

"Fine, go back to your boring book, but you bet I'll be coming in to get you in twenty minutes, whether you like it or not." She warned, and he chuckled.

"Oh, I never doubted it. See you in twenty minutes."

Perona watched as he returned to the living room, but a small smile appeared on her face as she observed him.

He had offered to help her bake the cake, that was a start. For such an introverted man, at least he was trying to spend some time with her.

And although brief, she had really enjoyed it. She didn't know why she liked being around him so much, it wasn't something she could rationalise, but she couldn't help but felt content when she was spending time with him.

She decided to leave the swordsman to his own business for the time being, so she made her way up the stairs and opened the door to her bedroom. As she did so, she noticed that Kumashi was sat on the bed, and he waved upon seeing her enter.

She lay down beside him and rested her head on her zombie friend's stomach.

"He's not quite so heartless after all…" She admitted to him in a tired voice, and the bear tilted his head to the side.

"Who?" He asked, and Perona had to bite her tongue to stop herself from yelling at the bear for speaking. His voice still wasn't any cuter, but she had to suck it up.

"Hawkie." She replied, using the pet name that she had created for him but never used to his face before. Though, the thought of what his response to being called _Hawkie_ would be did bring a smile to her face. "He's not so bad afterall."

"I mean, he is letting us stay in his castle, rent free, and he's always been more than accommodating to the both of us, and not to mention the fact that he trained that Roronoa kid for two years too." Kumashi added, and Perona sighed, cuddling into him.

"Yeah, I guess so… Maybe under that gloomy exterior he's cute and cuddly too…" Perona mumbled happily, still not over her obsession with cute things.

She let her eyes rest for a second, not realising that she'd fallen asleep until she awoke to a gentle touch, nudging her awake.

"Perona…" Mihawk gently called as he shook her by the shoulder, and she gave a quiet groan as she opened her eyes.

"What..?" She mumbled, still in a state of half sleep. "Mihawk..?"

He looked away, clearly embarrassed at the fact he had entered her room, but he continued with what he was saying regardless.

"I did knock but you didn't answer… I thought I'd come to get you since, well the cake's looking a little bit well done."

She suddenly snapped out of her daze as she leapt out of her bed. "Oh, the cake!"

She rushed downstairs in a hurry with Mihawk following not far behind her, and she gave a sigh of relief when she noticed that the cake was okay, albeit a dark golden-brown colour.

Thank goodness that he had been paying attention to the time, or it would have been reduced to a pile of ash.

"So, are you going to ice it or shall I?" He asked, and she shrugged.

"Depends, can you make it look cute?" She asked, and he raised an eyebrow. She sighed. "Yeah, I didn't think so… Get me the sprinkles please."

Mihawk didn't argue with that, and instead made his way to the cupboard, collecting a small container of sugar sprinkles as Perona began to pipe intricate patterns onto the dessert.

He placed them beside her and then stood back, watching her as she made little pink and yellow swirls along the side. He was surprised at how good she was honestly; he never took her for an artsy type.

"You can do the honours." She announced once she had finished, and he chuckled.

"Really? Thank you so much, I do feel rather honoured." He replied sarcastically as he scattered the brightly coloured decorations on top. But despite it all, he was actually having fun spending time with her, which was something he hadn't been expecting.

Once the cake was done, they both stood back to admire their work.

"Not bad, even if I do say so myself." Perona sniggered smugly, and Mihawk nodded.

"Yeah, I guess it doesn't look terrible, but all that's for nothing if it doesn't taste good." He replied, reaching into the draw and taking out a sharp knife. He effortlessly cut it into sections, putting two pieces onto two separate plates before passing Perona one.

"What do you mean ' _not terrible_ '? I'd like to see you do better!" She protested with a pout as she took the plate from him, but he smirked in response to her defensive outburst and headed out of the room, opening the front door.

"Wait… Where are you going?" She asked as she watched him leave, and he turned around upon hearing her question.

"Outside obviously." He replied, before continuing. "Aren't you coming? You were the one who suggested we go for a walk."

Perona felt a blush spread across her face, and she nodded excitedly as she followed after him, slice of cake in hand as she danced alongside the Warlord.

"You've definitely been replaced with a look-alike or something. I don't believe for one second that you're the same narky Hawkeye that I was talking to earlier." She teased as she stood by his side, and Mihawk took a bite of the cake as he rolled his eyes in response.

"Well, maybe you're right. Maybe I have been replaced, but at least I know for a fact you've not changed." He replied with a grin. "You're just as whiny as the day I met you."

"Hey!" She whined in protest, but Mihawk laughed in response.

"Thanks for proving my point." He chuckled, watching her as she frowned in response. He paused for a minute, finishing off his slice of the cake before deciding to continue with what he was saying.

"Though, I must say; I think I'd miss having you here if you left. I've grown quite fond of your presence, so I'm glad you wanted to stay here with me."

Perona felt a blush spread across her face as he spoke, and she gently prodded him in the arm with the fork.

"Stop joking around, we both know you don't mean that."

"Oh, don't I?" He asked, turning to face her before leaning in and swiftly taking a bite of her cake. "And what makes you so sure?"

"Hey! If you want more, go get some from the kitchen, you pig." She shot back, but there was a smile on her face as she watched the swordsman wipe the icing from around his mouth.

She didn't respond to his question straight away as she wanted to enjoy their moment of playfulness together, but then the smile faded and she looked away, finally providing him with an answer.

"I'm sure of it because, well because you obviously prefer it when I stay out of your way. You've made that clear."

Upon hearing her response, the swordsman stopped walking and sighed.

"Perona..."

"What? It's true isn't it? Even now, i'm sure you wish you weren't here with me. You can't tell me that i'm w-"

"You're wrong." Mihawk stated abruptly, looking down at her with an unusual expression on his face. A look that Perona had never seen before.

He couldn't explain how he felt, but even when they weren't spending time together, he still felt happy knowing that she was around him. He may have been the kind of person who liked to keep himself to himself, but when she arrived to the island two years ago, he didn't mind the company.

"It wouldn't feel the same here, without you. I know I don't show it much, but I do really like having you around." He admitted.

There was a moment where neither of them said anything, but it was Perona who eventually broke the silence.

"Really..?" The ghost girl asked as she sat down next to him. "You're not just saying that are you?"

"I wouldn't say something like that unless I meant it." He promised.

A few more seconds of silence went by, and Perona let out a quiet sigh of relief as she gently leaned in against him, resting her head against his side.

"Well, that's good to hear, because I'm not leaving. You know you're stuck with me now, right?"

A chuckle reverberated through the man's body, and he placed an arm around her as he spoke.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."


End file.
